Inspector Jesse GIlbert and Mayor Ames Leslie during a council meeting. Leslie is seeking a third term. (Julia Lovett-Squires/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

Battleford Mayor run

Ames Leslie to seek third term

Jun 7, 2024 | 5:00 PM

The wait is over, Battleford Mayor Ames Leslie is officially seeking a third term.

“I think there’s just some things that we haven’t quite done yet that I want to see to the end,” he said.

“I think as a country and as a province and as a municipality we’re at the cusp of coming out of COVID and coming out of this…recession I think there’s going to be some great momentum and growth in the Battlefords and Saskatchewan.”

Leslie, who is currently at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Annual Conference and spoke to battlefordsNOW by phone, said there are a number of infrastructure projects currently in the works.

“Whether that’s with our local regional partners with the City of North Battleford or some of our Indigenous partners like up on the Ridge or some…development on HWY 16 that we’re working with Thunderchild (First Nation), we’ll likely see some of those come to fruition before I’m done,” he said.

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“Now that there’s more – the economy is a little bit more stable – and entities, corporations and us as residents are looking to spend more money, there are some projects that we’d like to get accomplished.”

One of the areas Leslie said he wants to see develop is the paving levy, announced in this year’s budget.

“I’d like to be there when we get fully into that in the next couple years and watch the progression of how much we can address the infrastructure deficit that is in our community,” he said.

“Get more paving done, look at more parks for our kids, more free options that we can add to make our community more attractive to people choosing to work and play in Battleford.”

As the mayor contemplated his choice, he said the thought of not seeking a run was “Intriguing.”

“Being in this position, there is a lot of strain on personal time, there’s a lot of strain on personal and family relationships and it does take its toll,” he said.

“By all means I looked at what life looks like not being the mayor,” Leslie added of the political career he never thought he’d have.

“I think I have four more years in me of pure dedicated focus and then I think that now’s not the time to not seek re-election.

Meanwhile, should he be re-elected, he would like to see further expansion of the commercial and industrial sector to help offset the residential taxation portion along with continuing the relationship between the city and the town.

“I think that that relationship is very imperative, very important, you know, we are neighbours and in the same breath, we fight for the same dollar quite often from the federal and provincial governments,” he said.

“We have shown to both those other governments that when the city and town work together and find efficiencies within our own applications, we can both be very successful.”

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

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